Editing Cimmerians (section)

== Archaeology ==
{{main|Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex|Scythian culture}}

===In the Eurasian Steppe===
The Cimmerians were part of the [[Scytho-Siberian world|Scytho-Siberian horizon]], and they produced a Scythian-like material culture. Archaeological remains typical of Iron Age steppe nomads found in Caucasia and Transcaucasia, consisting of kurgans, weapons, horse harness parts, horses, stirrups, arrowheads, and Animal Style ornaments, might have belonged to the Cimmerians.{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=210-211}}

The Cimmerians before their migration into West Asia archaeologically corresponded to a part of the [[Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex]] of the northern Pontic steppe regions over the course of the 9th to 7th centuries BC.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=99}}

The Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex thus developed natively in the North Pontic region over the course of the 9th to mid-7th centuries BC from elements which had earlier arrived from [[Central Asia]], due to which the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex itself exhibited similarities with the other early nomadic cultures of the Eurasian steppe and forest-steppe which existed before the 7th century BC, such as the [[Aržan culture]], so that these various pre-Scythian early nomadic cultures were thus part of a unified Aržan-Chernogorovka cultural layer originating from Central Asia.{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=35-37}}

Both the Cimmerians and the early Scythians thus belonged to pre-Scythian archaeological cultures,{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=92}} and the material culture of the Cimmerians was therefore similar enough to that of the later Scythians who followed them{{sfn|Melyukova|1990|p=98}} that the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk and Proto-Scythian cultures are archaeologically indistinguishable from each other.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=93}}{{sfn|Adalı|2017|p=61}}

===In West Asia===
The movement of the Cimmerians and Scythians into West Asia archaeologically corresponds to the movement of these pre-Scythian archaeological cultures into this region,{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=91}} where both groups used identical arrowheads, thus making it difficult to distinguish the Cimmerians from the early Scythians.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=32}}

By the time the Cimmerians had moved into West Asia, their culture along with the pre-Scythian culture of the Scythians had evolved into the Early Scythian culture:{{sfn|Ivantchik|2010|p=66}} several "Early Scythian" remains are known from West Asia which correspond to the activities of the Cimmerians in this region,{{sfn|Ivantchik|2001|p=338}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2010|p=67}} with "Scythian" arrowheads have been found among the weapons of besieging armies of ruined cities in parts of Anatolia where Cimmerians are attested have operated but where Scythians were not active.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=92}}

Despite textual sources attesting of Cimmerian activities in Anatolia which strongly affected the polities in that region, their presence there has largely still not been identified in the archaeology of Iron Age Anatolia.{{sfn|de Boer|2006|p=44}}{{sfn|Adalı|2023|p=210}}{{sfn|Summers|2023|p=116}}

The few known Cimmerian archaeological remains from the period of their presence in Anatolia include a burial from the village of [[İmirler, Gümüşhacıköy|İmirler]] in the [[Amasya Province]] of [[Turkey]] which contains typically Early Scythian weapons and horse harnesses. Another Cimmerian burial, located at about 100&nbsp;km to the east of İmirler and 50&nbsp;km from [[Samsun]], contained 250 Scythian-type arrowheads.{{sfn|Ivantchik|2010|p=67-68}}

The site of [[Büklükale]], where was discovered Scythian-type animal style ornaments, might have been the location of a Cimmerian settlement, although this identification is still uncertain.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle|{{harvnb|Altuntaş|2022}}|{{harvnb|Adalı|2023|p=216}}|{{harvnb|Altuntaş|2023}}|{{harvnb|Carola|2023}}|{{harvnb|Keskin|2023}}}}</ref>